Director, Programming (Weekends)

Reporting to the VP of Programming, the Director will lead the editorial team responsible for curating and optimizing the content experience across the core digital surfaces – web, mobile web, and mobile apps – for a 24/7 global news organization. The role is at the intersection of journalism, audience behaviour, and product innovation. The ideal candidate brings sharp editorial judgment, strong people leadership, and a strategic mindset grounded in data. The Director ensures that our digital front doors consistently reflect the urgency, depth, and breadth of our journalism and serve the evolving needs of our audiences around the clock. The Director will play a critical role helping to develop and lead execution of the weekend homepage strategy. The role is based out of the London newsroom, working a 4‑day week inclusive of Saturday and Sunday.

Your Role Accountabilities

• Lead a team of editors programming the organization’s home and front‑door digital experiences (web, mobile web, and app).
• Guide programming strategy across formats – including live video, text, audio, and visuals – ensuring each is optimized.
• Exercise strong editorial judgment in real time, particularly during high‑pressure breaking news and questions of content hierarchy, timing and rotation.
• Ensure content selection aligns with core editorial values while meeting the needs of users (Catch me up, Take me deeper, Entertain me).
• Frame stories with clarity, accuracy, and impact, including writing or approving high‑quality headlines, teases, and promotional language.
• Demonstrate ability to make sophisticated editorial decisions and seamlessly curate across live, text, visual, and video formats.
• Monitor real‑time analytics to inform programming decisions and adjust content placement dynamically, partnering with the Audience, Data, and Research teams to deepen understanding of audience segments and consumption habits.
• Manage and mentor a distributed editorial team, providing direction, feedback, and growth opportunities.

Qualifications & Experience

• Extensive experience in digital journalism, audience programming, or editorial operations within a fast‑paced news or media environment.
• Experience managing teams in a 24/7 publishing operation, ideally with global coordination.
• Demonstrated ability to balance real‑time editorial instincts with long‑term strategic thinking.
• Deep understanding of audience engagement, digital consumption behaviours, and cross‑platform storytelling (text, video, audio).
• Experience working with product and design teams to enhance digital storytelling or homepage surfaces.

Hybrid Working

This role is advertised as a hybrid work model, combining remote and in‑office work, following the current company policy and to be agreed with your Line Manager. Subject to any applicable laws, WBD / your Line Manager reserves the right to change this working agreement where this is essential to business needs and upon reasonable notice to you.

Championing Inclusion at WBD

Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects a wide array of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, disability or any other category protected by law. If you’re a qualified candidate with a disability and you require adjustments or accommodations during the job application and/or recruitment process, please visit our accessibility page for instructions to submit your request.